Tag Archives: proverbs

It may be hard to believe, but we have just now completed three tours through the book of Proverbs!

Our very first post was back on April 1, 2012. It took a little over 2 years to complete the first run, then about the same amount of time to complete a rerun of the series.

Now we have completed another 31-week abridged version and I’ve still not finished providing easy-to-locate links to the first posts under the tabs above! I apologize.

But where do we go from here?

This time around I did not contribute as much as I would have liked. Frankly, Daniel, Dawn, and Michael have pretty much done this all on their own. And what a great job they did!

The depths of God’s wisdom can never be fully plumbed; therefore, if we started all over from the beginning and did a brand new 2-year run through the over 700 proverbs in Proverbs, we’d still be bringing up new treasure.

But what say ye?

How many regular readers of this blog would like to see it continue with fresh material? Or, would you still keep coming back if we re-posted what has already been written each day?

I’d love to hear from you in the comment section below, or you can give me a call at 423-645-8884. Or, if you prefer, email me at PastorACBaker@yahoo.com.

Bob and I went over to the church to see if we could help our assistant pastor and some friends who were busting up the concrete getting ready to put in a new parking area by the daycare center. Kevin, who is also a farmer, had brought in his own Bobcat and was adroitly ripping up the ground and dumping it into the truck. Bob and I are always so impressed by this guy’s expertise in all things concerning the practical working of dirt.

I’m also pretty amazed at how people invented and manufactured the Bobcat. Or the concrete it busts up for that matter! Or how about Apollo 13? A popular movie from years ago, I just admire at the ingenuity of bringing them back home safely—with slide rules.Continue reading

The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion. – Proverbs 28:1

One of the most impressive scenes in the New Testament is found in the second chapter of Acts, beginning with verse 14. There we see Peter and the others – but mainly Peter – boldly standing in front of the very crowd that had previously crucified Jesus saying:

“Therefore let all the house of Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” – Acts 2:36 CSB

If that wasn’t boldness, I don’t know what is!

Think about it! At a time when the Church was barely more than 200 strong (yes, just 200), and not long after they were hiding out in fear, the disciples of Jesus were now throwing caution to the wind as they openly declared Jesus to be the risen Lord.

Nowadays we have multiple millions who claim the name of Christ, many of them with no fear of ever getting a slap on the wrist for expressing their faith – if and when they ever decided to show it. Yet, when the ENTIRE WORLD was in a position to obliterate all the followers of “the Way” in one strike, they came out with a message that was anything but “seeker-friendly” or Joel Osteen-ish.

They essentially said, “You did it. You were wrong. He lives. Repent.”

Where are Christians like that, today? What would happen … if only 200 did what they did … a hundred thousand followers of Christ would stand boldly in the public square and tell the truth about sin and salvation?

Powerless, lukewarm, sin-flirting, self-centered kittens may find it easy to endure the needles that inject woke platitudes and creatively-vague Christian symbols under their skin, but they cower in the dark rooms of expediency and tolerance flee from the fiery darts of the Enemy.

The righteous, on the other hand, stand boldly in the power of the Holy Ghost, raise their shields of faith, and unsheathe a Weapon that “is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12 ESV).

I’m learning Swedish. Slowly. I have a working vocabulary of, I dunno, 70 words? Our second granddaughter is 50% Swedish (our son-in-law is 100%), and they live about an hour outside of Stockholm.

Now, when my son-in-law heard of my little project, he informed me that only 10 million people on the globe speak his language, as compared with the 1.5 billion that speak some form of English, his point being that it wasn’t necessarily practical to learn his native tongue.

“A man generally has two reasons for doing a thing. One that sounds good, and a real one.”

That’s from the practical wisdom of J.P. Morgan, one of most influential bankers of the early 20th century.

Of course, then there are those who are a bit more honest about their motivation, like Phyllis Diller:

“Housework can’t kill you, but why take a chance?”

On the one hand:

A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.

On the other hand:

The lazy person claims, “There’s a lion out there! If I go outside, I might be killed!”

Why is one cautious person congratulated for being prudent while the other is vilified as a three-toed sloth?

It really all has to do with motive.

The prudent (wise, forward-thinking) one “foresees”, meaning he’s diligently done his research and understands the probabilities (are lions endemic to this area?), and based on those probabilities, he may take his gun out with him and search the area before proceeding.

The lazy person, by contrast, stays on the coach and opens another beer…because that’s what he really prefers to do. Making excuses for his decision assuages his own conscience, regardless of how ridiculous those excuses seem.

In fact, humans are probably the only part of God’s creation who uses the art of rationalization, that finely tuned skill of making excuses, even deluding ourselves into thinking those excuses are true.

I love the story of the Prodigal Son, on several layers. Did you know that the word prodigal doesn’t mean “sinful”? It means extravagant. Wasteful. Lavish. I guess I didn’t know that until well into my adulthood. The kid in the story certainly exemplifies the concept quite well.

But do you ever wonder why that father acquiesced to his son’s request for the early payout on his inheritance? Maybe I just don’t know the Jewish custom back in that day, or maybe it isn’t relevant to the point Jesus was trying to make, because here’s the thing:

An inheritance obtained too early in life is not a blessing in the end.

This kid was in no way ready to handle his inheritance wisely. His father had to know that, but handed over his intended wealth anyway and, well, we know the end result…something about trading T-bone steaks for empty corncobs.

Recent brain studies are telling us more about the frontal lobe of the human brain; in particular, how this part of our brain (which determines good judgment, actions/consequences, as well as being the reasonable brakes on otherwise impulsive emotions) does not fully mature—are you ready for this one?—until early to mid-twenties.

I wonder how long it takes my spiritual frontal lobe to mature?

Here’s an example: I heard a pastor say, (see? I really do listen!), that many times God intentionally withholds His blessing because we’re not ready to use it properly. That this withholding is, in fact, God’s discipline preparing us to handle the blessing in the most sustainable way, in the way which produces the highest return to bless others and build His kingdom.

Maybe instead of asking for blessing, I need to pray for disciplined maturity. I think somehow the blessing will naturally follow.

Dad is a retired engineer, a graduate of Purdue University, a true Boilermaker is ever there was one. He was the first of his family to go to college, not a small accomplishment having been born at the start of the Great Depression. After his stint in the Navy, and a bit of disgruntlement with the union’s treatment of his hard work ethic, he decided to go back to school. So here was a seasoned vet in his early twenties heading off to classes with fresh-faced high school graduates in a post-Korea university setting.